'I Know What You Did Last Summer' stars talk cameos, ending and possible sequel
Welcome back, Helen Shivers and Karla Wilson.
The new "I Know What You Did Last Summer" (in theaters now) is full of big swings and huge surprises, including major cameos from two fan-favorite characters: Sarah Michelle Gellar returns as Helen from the original film, and Brandy returns as Karla from the 1998 sequel.
Gellar's appearance comes first, during a creepy dream sequence. While in police custody, Madelyn Cline's Danica Richards has a vision of Helen, who was memorably killed by the Fisherman in the 1997 movie, as a manifestation of her guilt. In the dream, Helen holds a hook and tells Danica that the death of her fiancé Wyatt (Joshua Orpin), the killer's first victim, was her fault.
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"There was no way that Sarah was going to get out of doing this," director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson quips, and stresses that she and Gellar were telling the truth when they previously declared that Helen is really dead. "None of us lied! Nobody lied!"
But for Robinson, bringing Gellar back made sense, given the spiritual link between Helen and Danica.
"Danica is kind of the Helen Shivers of this film. So it was very exciting for me and for Sarah to be able to bring those two characters together in this kind of David Lynchian dream sequence, where Sarah could chew scenery and be her most iconic Helen Shivers self," Robinson says.
Cline "screamed internally" in excitement when she learned she'd share a scene with Gellar, who was "hilarious" and "kind." She also remembers the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" alum being "so involved" during shooting.
"She was there with her kids, and it was a really special experience because you can tell she also deeply cares," Cline adds. "She wanted to be there just as much as we did."
The cameo is another big surprise that Freddie Prinze Jr. has been keeping under wraps, the other being his character Ray's heel turn. He says he and Gellar, whom he married in 2002 after they met on the original "I Know What You Did Last Summer," have known she would appear in the film since before the script was completed.
"The even cooler secret than Ray being the killer was knowing that the fans were going to get something (with Helen)," he says.
What happens in the 'I Know What You Did Last Summer' end-credits scene?
The second surprise cameo comes during an end-credits scene, in which Karla (Brandy), Julie James' (Jennifer Love Hewitt) roommate in 1998's "I Still Know What You Did Last Summer," watches a news report about the events of the film in shock.
Julie then stops by to reveal that she has received a new threatening note along with a photo of Julie and Karla that has Karla's face crossed out. Julie says she needs help, and Karla says she's in, setting up a sequel that would seemingly involve the two of them teaming up.
Hewitt says it was "so special" getting to work with Brandy again for the first time in nearly 30 years. "She and I just kept looking at each other going, 'Is that you? Oh, my God, what are we doing here?' "
"Karla, for Julie, is probably the most special person in her life, because she's the one person who is still here (and) knows everything that she's been through, but is also her ride or die," Hewitt adds. "She's not scared of anything. She's probably the one character that matches Julie's gumption."
Robinson says she didn't want to bring Karla back just for the sake of a cameo, but she thought it was appropriate that the Fisherman's return would lead the characters to reunite.
Julie "has moved through and past her trauma in a way where she doesn't really want to be reminded of it," the director explains. "She is solitary, is a loner, doesn't want to bring anyone into her mess, and that is the life and the world that she's created for herself. So for me, something needed to bring Julie back to Karla, and I really liked that the events of this film push those two friends back together."
Will there be an 'I Know What You Did Last Summer' sequel?
Despite the end-credits scene directly leading into a sequel, another "I Know What You Did Last Summer" movie hasn't been confirmed. Whether a sequel happens will depend on how well the new film performs.
But Robinson says she has a "clear" idea of what that next movie would be and is ready to make it happen, should she be given the opportunity. "Hopefully, that is something that people want," she says.
Hewitt, too, confirms she'd like another go as Julie James. "I'm definitely down for it," she says. "That would be so fun, everything working out as it should."
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